


Memory

by starprise_entership



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: I wasn’t satisfied with beta canon so i did a thing, I’m not saying Julian is a disney princess but, M/M, hey miracles do happen, i’m just really bitter okay, takes place post-Enigma Tales
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 13:16:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13342011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starprise_entership/pseuds/starprise_entership
Summary: But Ezri had come here specifically to deliver Julian /to him/. She said that it could possibly jog his memory. That did mean something.A yearning stirs up within Garak, and he wishes things were back the way they were.





	Memory

“Another two more minutes, nurse,” Garak pleads, speaking over the comm system. “Two more minutes and I’ll leave and allow our friend to get some rest.”

Friend. Friend was probably an understatement, for they’d been romantically involved for some time during their tenure on Deep Space Nine for several years, but the Dominion War had harshly dragged them apart.

And yet now here he was. Left in Garak’s care, Julian Bashir sat faced towards the window, completely unresponsive. His eyes, once full of youthful vigour, now were static and unmoving. His breathing, once full of animation, now had slowed to a dull, passive pulse. And the most unnerving thing at all was that he was eerily silent. It was hard, for Garak, to imagine the young, enthusiastic, talkative man he had met all those years ago.

Garak moves in front of him, and lowers himself to have his gaze meet Julian’s. “Please, if you’re still in there,” Garak pleads. If Julian were here right now, he’d be amused. _Elim Garak, begging him of all people for something?_

Was it fate that Ezri had brought Julian to him? It could’ve been anywhere else. The Federation’s best medical facilities. Earth. Hell, even Miles O’Brien could’ve made a fitting companion for him. But Ezri had come here specifically to deliver Julian _to him_. She said that it could possibly jog his memory. That did mean something.

A yearning stirs up within Garak, and he wishes things were back the way they were. Back when they were younger. Back before the Dominion War drew them further and further away as thoughts of guilt and anguish were placed upon them by the heavy burden of war. Back before everything about them, became complicated. To him currently, Julian is an ex-lover. And he insists to himself that he should’ve moved on a long time ago.

What drives him? Is it nostalgia? No, it certainly is not. It’s more of a rekindling, the desire to start fresh and anew, and to cast off the unresolved emotional baggage that had accumulated during the time they were apart.

Garak finds himself cupping Julian’s cheek lightly in his own hand. He hesitates, not knowing how terribly suitable it would be to make a move at this point, but he finally falls apart as the longing overcomes him.

A light kiss, a soft press, and nothing more. Garak backs off, and opens his eyes, and with his back to Julian he stares out at the nightscape and wonders whether he’s finally cut the final strand that will lead him back to Julian.

As he turns back to glance at Julian for a final time before leaving for the night, his blood chills as he notices...something. When he moves, Julian’s gaze darts to his position, and then darts back. He moves again, keeping himself within Julian’s view, and the same response occurs again. A small flicker, a tiny flame of hope, but it’s enough to send Garak running out the door in complete astonishment.

“Nurse,” Garak announces, excitedly, “I think there’s been a development. Come along.” 


End file.
